Home

As expected, one of my biggest SNAFUs happened at the Ottawa airport. I won’t go into details as it’s a convoluted story with no entertainment value whatsoever. Suffice it to say that I was virtually the first one off the plane, but the last to leave the airport. All’s well that ends well and I am now safely ensconced in my bachelor pad in Chelsea. I’ve had a good night’s sleep during the right hours of the day, so hopefully this whole wretched journey and the subsequent exhaustion have provided the benefit of staving off jetlag.

Now the process of settling in (again!) and planning next steps (again!) begins in earnest. In the meantime I’m breathing clean, crisp air and looking at colourful tulips surrounded by green grass and trees. It’s lovely.

Heathrow

I have never managed to fly into or out of Kathmandu without some kind of drama, and this trip was no different. I arrived at the airport yesterday morning and went directly to the Jet Airways counter to check in. I was informed that I would need to pick up my bags in Delhi and then re-register for the remainder of my trip. In addition, because I had two stops in India, and was therefore taking a domestic flight within the country, I needed an Indian visa. Needless to say, it had never occurred to me to get a visa simply to transit through a country, so I didn’t have one. I was going to have to stay in Kathmandu for a couple of days while I navigated the illogical labyrinth of the Indian embassy and changed all my flight arrangements. I almost broke down and wept.

Then a wonderful woman came to my rescue and managed to change my flights so that I flew directly from Delhi to London, bypassing Mumbai altogether. This meant no domestic flight in India and no need for a visa. She was a bit taken aback by my over-exuberant expression of thanks, and kept muttering “don’t cry ma’am, don’t cry ma’am”. Note to self: in the future don’t be above using tears to get your way.

When I arrived in Delhi a couple of hours later, Jet Airways’ computers were all down, so they had no record of me being confirmed on the Delhi-London flight. A Jet representative ran off with my ticket and passport to check things out, immediately triggering a panic attack. I sat in the transit lounge for a tense 90 minutes or so, my stomach churning at the thought of being stuck in India or sent back to Nepal to secure an Indian visa (and all that without any travel documents). Finally my ticket, passport and boarding card arrived, the latter hand-written to compensate for the still malfunctioning computers.

As I settled into my seat on the half-empty plane, I was counting my blessings at having avoided a potentially miserable situation, as well as getting out of India about 12 hours ahead of schedule. Then I did the math. Because I wasn’t flying to Mumbai, or sitting through a lengthy layover at the airport there, I would have 18 hours at Heathrow. Oh well, I thought, at least it’s not India.

When I arrived here, I immediately went to the Air Canada desk to ask if they had an earlier flight to Ottawa than the one I was booked on. Not surprisingly, the last one had left about 15 minutes before I landed. I opted out of clearing customs and going to the ticket counter to see if there was a more circuitous (but earlier) flight to Ottawa. First, I wasn’t sure if they’d let me through customs and second, I really didn’t want to fly all over North America to get home. I figured that with a book and my computer I’d be able to fill the time here no problem.

It turns out there was a problem. You can’t stay in the transit lounge between midnight and 5:00 AM. I was sleeping happily on a bank of chairs oblivious to everything closing down around me, and was then wakened (very gently, I must say) by security who escorted me to customs. They had no problem letting me through but by this time there was nothing to do but sleep in amongst the baggage turnstiles in the arrivals lounge. I was happy to see that there were a half dozen other people in the same situation, so I didn’t feel like quite so much of an idiot. I have to admit, it was a very strange night. In spite of the airport being closed, there was a ton of activity by maintenance and security staff. The noise they created, added to the uncomfortable “bed” I had, meant that I only slept in 15-minute spurts over about three hours. Every time I woke up and looked around me, I felt like a homeless person, and got a bit of a feeling of what it must be like to sleep on the street night after night. By 3:00 AM, my internal clock, set to Kathmandu time, was thinking it was time to get up. Fortunately one coffee shop was open so I had a huge cup of tea and watched a movie on my computer until the airport opened.

I am now back in the transit lounge, breakfast settling in my belly, teeth brushed and fresh makeup applied. I only have about four hours to kill before I board my flight and am waiting in giddy anticipation of my flight appearing on the departures board. I’m guessing it will show up in about 30 minutes or so. I am trying not to let myself get too excited about worst being over – I still have to clear Canadian customs which will likely be more hellish than the rest of the journey combined. But at least everyone will be speaking English and standing nicely in a queue.

On My Way

I am down to the wire now...will be heading home tomorrow morning. I have had a really good last few days enjoying both the city and the people in it. I saw a well-acted if rather strange interpretation of "Waiting for Godot", celebrated Buddha's birthday with thousands of other people at the Swayambunath temple, had a traditional 7-course Newari dinner at the famous Dwarika's hotel, hosted a cocktail party on my terrace and did some bar-hopping in Thamel.

I went out today to run my last few errands and was hoping to meander around the city a bit to soak up the ambiance. We've had a few storms over the last couple of days, so the air is clearer than it's been in months and has a crispness I haven't felt in ages. Unfortunately the city wasn't at its best today and after struggling with crazy drivers and touts, came home to spend my last afternoon in the solitude of my apartment. I'll finish my book in the next hour or so and pick up a new one to read on my long journey. I'm off for dinner with Jackie at a lovely restaurant in the Garden of Dreams, a restored garden in a former Rana palace. It's a stunning setting.

I’ll check my e-mail in the morning before I head out to the airport but will be out of touch from that point on. My next post will come from Chelsea.

Work

A few of my friends from the telecom industry have been putting out feelers for work for me. It’s a small industry and word of my return has been spreading. Consequently, I’ve been made aware of a few opportunities that may be suitable for me. I have been reading the e-mails with mixed emotions. Obviously, it’s great that there is work out there, especially in light of everything I’ve heard about the world’s dire economic situation. However I am also reminded of why I left the telecom industry three years ago and how much I wish I didn’t have to return to it. Unfortunately I am now in a position where I need to fill up my feeble bank account and that means taking a contract.

I have travelled around the world looking for something that would give me reason to get up in the morning and perhaps even fulfill me. I have had to let go of that dream, at least temporarily, and have lowered my sights. I don’t expect to wake up each morning eager to get to my workplace. I don’t need to go to bed every night feeling like I did something meaningful with my day. I don’t even need to be happy for those 40 hours each week. I just wish I wasn’t going to be so miserable.

Wednesday Update

The political situation is still very much up-in-the-air, but right now everything is quiet here. I expect that they're in for a rocky road, and things will likely get nasty before they settle down on a permanent basis. I'm hoping that the calm before the storm that is sitting over Kathmandu today will last until I leave.

I mailed my last boxes home and have pretty much cleaned out my apartment so I really don't have any more obligations before I leave. I'll spend my time saying some goodbyes and just enjoying what I can of the city. I am feeling really good about Nepal at the moment and while that makes leaving a bit bittersweet, I am glad to be leaving on a positive note.

I probably won't be blogging on a daily basis. I'll check in if the political situation changes or if there's something in the media that may prompt reassurances. In the meantime, please assume all is well. Less than a week now...

Tuesday Update

I really don't have much to report...life is going as usual here. The 22 parties represented in parliament met today about what happens next, but apparently they didn't make any headway. I'm just hoping that this stalemate continues for another week so that I can get out of here before the decision is made. No matter what they decide, someone is bound to be upset enough to cause havoc for a few days.

For now all is well.

Resignation

This will be fairly short. I was out tonight at Deborah’s for dinner and I’ve had a few drinks. Khem drove me home through quiet and totally normal streets so it would appear that all is well. My grey matter, however, isn’t in such great shape.

The Prime Minister resigned this afternoon and pretty much every political party holding seats in parliament has quit. Once the Maoists joined the ranks of the deserting parties, the rest of them came back. The way things sit right now, nobody knows what’s going on, who’s running the show, or what the future holds. I’m hoping that the confusion will keep the protesters out of the streets.

According to the news on the radio tonight (which Khem translated as he drove me home) they have decided to let the courts decide if the PM has done anything illegal. All the remaining political issues (e.g. who the hell is going to run the country) will be decided in parliament, which will reconvene next Thursday. Khem seems convinced that under the circumstances there is no reason to protest so things will remain quiet. We can only hope that the Nepalese public shares this point of view.

Strangely, I sort of rekindled my relationship with Nepal tonight. I was worried about seeing Khem (my former boss) for the first time since I quit. However, I had a great time with both Deborah and him, and I think the door has been left open for me to work for him again if I ever have the inclination. (I'm not expecting this to happen anytime soon, but one never knows.) Listening to him and Deborah talking about the college gave me a renewed sense of optimism for them and the work they’re doing. It was also lovely to be at Deborah’s house in the suburbs where the air is a bit fresher. I really enjoyed exploring a new part of the city as I found my way up there, and again on the way home. It’s not like I’m going to cancel my flight home or anything, but I did definitely feel better about being here than I have in weeks.

Okay, I’ll sign off for now. I’ll write tomorrow when I’m better rested, a little more sober, and have a better handle on what’s going on. So far so good.